Nana Kwame, said to be a notorious armed robber and on the police wanted list for allegedly masterminding a series of armed robbery attacks in Accra, has been arrested. According to the police, he was 'smoked out' of his hide out at Obo Kwahu in the Eastern Region on Wednesday March 7, 2018.
The 30-year-old suspect was arrested by the Obo Kwahu District police and handed over to the Eastern Regional Police Command in Koforidua.
The Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr Ebenezer Tetteh who disclosed this to Graphic Online said the suspect would be handed over to the Accra Police Command for further investigations.
ASP Tetteh, said the police in the region was on high alert to ensure that all those who threatened the peace and safety of people were arrested.
In another development, the Tease District Police has arrested a suspected armed robber, Abu Musah, who allegedly attacked a 25-year-old farmer, Emmanuel Agbeko, at Ekye Amanfrom.
Suspect Abu Musah, and his accomplice who is currently on the run according to ASP Tetteh attacked Agbeko on the highway near the Glory Oil Filling Station at Ekye Amanfrom, during which they took away his Apsonic motorbike which he was riding at the time.
According to ASP Tetteh, Mr Agbeko was moving to Gallonmainu from Ekye Amanfrom when he was accosted by two Fulani men on a motorbike holding a cutlass and a knife.
"They threatened him with the cutlass and knife and snatched his newly bought unregistered Apsonic motorbike", he stated.
"A distress call was received by the Tease Police who chased and met the two robbers on two motorbikes, one of which happened to be the victim's motorbike, an unregistered Apsonic Fleche 2 motorbike", he added.
ASP Tetteh said they were heading for Donkorkrom when they were arrested.
"One of them not yet identified escaped but Abu Musah was arrested.
The two motorbikes were consequently impounded and are with the Tease District Police.
He appealed to the public to volunteer information on people they suspect have something to do with armed robbery attacks in the region so they would be apprehended.


Although Tucson is overflowing with all sorts of ice cream, gelato, smoothie, frozen yogurt, and raspado shops, only one offers such an extensive selection of dairy free options. Vegans and those avoiding dairy do not have to feel left out as they pass one ice cream shop after another.
While most of these shops typically offer at least one dairy free flavor, every flavor at Cashew Cow is completely free of dairy, yet still maintains that creamy goodness which we all love about ice cream.Cashews surprisingly provide a good consistency for ice cream and even those who love a real scoop of ice cream will agree that Cashew Cow comes pretty darn close to the real thing.
Cashew Cow's ice cream is made up entirely of cashews. It's pretty crazy to think how we can take something like a nut and turn it into ice cream! The resulting flavor is smooth and creamy just like the real deal.
Cashew Cow offers about 10 rotating flavors, although nothing as fancy as some of the gelato shops. The pricing is high, although comparable to other ice cream shops in Tucson. We tried samples of a variety of flavors and settled with the chocolate, which was rich and delicious, although not as good as the Dark Chocolate gelato at Frost. We also tried a Mint Chocolate Chip, which was also tasty.
Unfortunately, the chocolate chip cookie dough has never been on the line during our visits, which probably would have been my selection. It would have been nice to have seen some waffle cones, sundaes, floats, etc as opposed to standard ice cream in a cup. The experience was a bit boring, and in my opinion, not worth a special detour.
The service at Cashew Cow definitely needs improvement. Whereas most ice cream shops are staffed with peppy employees asking if you would like to try any samples, the service at Cashew Cow is not particularly friendly. This really puts a damper on the fun treating yourself to an ice cream out experience. We were never offered any samples, and when we asked, it seemed as if it was a big inconvenience to the employee. In fact, the employees seem irritated and annoyed that they have to greet you and get off their phones to do so!
After visiting several other dairy free shops across the country, I can say that Cashew Cow definitely has the unfriendliest service of the bunch, by far. Despite serving tasty ice cream, the bad service just creates an overall negative vibe, and I would not recommend visiting unless you have to eat dairy free.
The setting is bright and cheerful, although the same can not be said for the service. Cashew Cow is one of the few ice cream shops we have ever been to where we felt uncomfortable eating inside due to the surly attitude of the employees.
Cashew Cow is a decent choice for those seeking dairy free treats as they offer the biggest selection in Tucson. However, due to the unfriendly service, I would not recommend going out of your way if you do not require dairy free products. There are plenty of fantastic gelato shops around Tucson where you can treat yourself to a tasty treat while enjoying a more diverse selection of flavors and also great service.


Japan is a critical player in the context of U.S.-China strategic stability; however, there are very few discussions between Chinese and Japanese security experts on the issue, much less trilateral discussions involving all three countries. Moreover, there has been little scholarly attention to the role Japan plays in the U.S.-China relationship. This project aims to investigate challenges to strategic stability between China and the United States that derive from the triangular relationship between these two powers and Japan through the medium of a trilateral U.S.- China-Japan Track 2 dialogue to promote mutual understanding among experts from the three countries on the concept and definition of U.S.-China strategic stability, the purposes that U.S.-China strategic stability serves, and approaches to fostering strategic stability in the region.


Jasper is a cryptocrystalline variety of the mineral Quartz (SiO2). There are many named varieties of jasper. Quartz is the most abundant single mineral on earth. It makes up about 12% of the earth's crust, occurring in a wide variety of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.
Some of the macrocrystalline quartz varieties are: Amethyst, Ametrine, Cat's-eye Quartz, Citrine, Phantom Quartz Crystal, Rock Crystal, Rose Quartz, Rutilated Quartz and Smoky Quartz.
Chert is the general term applied to the granular cryptocrystalline varieties of quartz, of which Jasper and flint are examples.
Jasper is a variety of chert, which is the general term applied to granular cryptocrystalline quartz varieties. There are dozens of named varieties of jasper, usually based on the colors and/or the patterns in the jasper. It is thought to form by the replacement of calcareous rock by silica-rich solutions, also by direct marine precipitation of silica gel or organic silica. Jasper is commonly associated with interbedded hematite ore deposits of Precambrian age. It occurs as a petrifying agent in fossil wood and bone. Jasper's typical reddish brown color is due to hematite or goethite impurities.


Militaria Dress sword stick for the Royal Malta Militia. White metal pommel on superb blonde full length high ridge Malacca. The cane finished with the original base metal ferrule.
The broad blade housed in the shaft, and removed with a pull action from the lower shaft. The broad blade in good condition without breaks, cracks or reduction.
Lovely condition that has evidently been cherished.
Should you wish to purchase this cane, please contact us by telephone or email.


It's almost time for open enrollment – and this year, there are some changes to Medicaid that might affect you, depending on what state you live in. So far, states have begun expanding their Medicaid programs, with the help of additional federal funding.
It's almost time for open enrollment – and this year, there are some changes to Medicaid that might affect you, depending on what state you live in. So far, states have begun expanding their Medicaid programs, with the help of additional federal funding. This funding for Medicaid expansion is meant to provide assistance to adults who are under 65 years of age, and therefore don't qualify for Medicare yet, who are at 138% of the poverty level in terms of income.
What does that mean in practical terms? Well, in certain states that are promoting this expansion, adults who fall into this income bracket can receive free or low-cost healthcare plans regardless of whether or not they're disabled, have dependents or their other financial resources. By expanding Medicaid, healthcare coverage is thereby extending to individuals who have, perhaps, never had healthcare coverage before because they "fell through the cracks"; there's an entire population of people who "aren't poor enough" for federal benefits, yet don't make enough to purchase private health insurance. Medicaid expansion could help to close up this coverage gap.
When the conversation about Medicaid expansion first started, it wasn't posed as an option, but rather, a mandate. One that, if states failed to meet it, would be the difference between federal funding and a lack thereof. States that didn't expand their Medicaid coverage would, essentially, be looking at losing half of their Medicaid funding (since federal funds account for half, if not more, of state programs). Now that it's optional, individual states are being encouraged to expand their coverage, but they won't lose federal funding – since Congress said it was unconstitutional.
Regardless of whether or not they have federal funding, more enrollees projected over the next decade also means higher state costs. The state expenditures already account for around a quarter of yearly spending, but that number could increase several folds as more and more people enroll in plans.
The federal government has committed to shouldering a lot of this upfront cost for expansion, and plan to maintain that funding through 2020 at least – however, it's hard to say if that will actually happen – it wouldn't be the first time federal funding slipped and states were left to pick up the tab.
But not taking the federal government up on their offer to support Medicaid expansion seems risky to most states – it seems like too good an offer to pass up in the short term. So, even though the expansion is optional, many states have already committed to undertaking it. The fallout will inevitably be the result of an unsustainable federal funding program – and while states might be aware of this, they are likely hoping that they can capitalize on the federal funding while it's available while simultaneously restructuring their state budget "under the table" so they'll be prepared when the other shoe drops and federal funds run out. It's wise for states to start thinking about this now, while they're feeling lush: when federal funds drop, states will need to either raise taxes to cover the cost or make cuts to other areas of their budget, neither of which is likely to make citizens happy.


Property website TheHouseShop have used their expert knowledge of the East-Molesey in Surrey property market to help buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords save money when advertising and searching for property available online. TheHouseShop is the only UK property portal that accepts listings from both homeowners and estate agents, so you will find properties listed for sale and to rent from high street estate agents, online estate agents, private sellers, private landlords and some of the UK's largest house-builders.
Whether you're a seller, a landlord, or an estate agent, you can use TheHouseShop property marketplace to advertise your properties to tens of thousands of buyers and tenants who visit the site each day looking for property in East-Molesey in Surrey and the surrounding areas. Private sellers and landlords can generate more interest from buyers and renters by using TheHouseShop's marketing boost options.
TheHouseShop have helped thousands of East-Molesey in Surrey's private landlords to find great tenants quickly with our free tenant-find service.
People looking for property to rent in East-Molesey in Surrey will find a wide selection of houses, flats, apartments, bungalows and maisonettes available from letting agents and landlords on TheHouseShop.com. Tenants use TheHouseShop to find affordable rental property in some of East-Molesey in Surrey's most desirable areas and can narrow down their search according to their budget, location and property specifications.
Visitors to TheHouseShop will find a variety of East-Molesey in Surrey rental properties available to rent direct from the landlord including DSS rental properties, studio apartments, flats, 3 and 4 bedroom homes, semi-detached houses, terraced houses to rent and more. TheHouseShop carries unique property to rent direct from private landlords, so tenants can find rental homes that they won't find on other big property websites. The East-Molesey in Surrey rental market is booming and savvy home hunters who rent property direct from the landlord can save money on admin fees and charges.
Tenants can find a variety of cheap rooms to rent in East-Molesey in Surrey in TheHouseShop's Flat Share section. Renting a property in East-Molesey in Surrey can be expensive, but tenants can find affordable Flat Shares in East-Molesey in Surrey's best locations for a fraction of the price of a whole property. TheHouseShop's Rental Guarantor service makes it easier for East-Molesey in Surrey renters to secure their dream property with the help of a guarantor based in the United Kingdom to reassure their landlord.
Landlords can use our free online rental calculator to determine the perfect price for their East-Molesey in Surrey rental property. Private landlords using TheHouseShop are given access to a number of landlord services including tenant referencing checks, rent collection, online tenancy agreements, landlord insurance and more - on top of advertising all their rental properties free of charge. Private landlords can use TheHouseShop's tenant referencing service to run background checks on renters, credit check tenants and view a reference report showing if the tenant will be a reliable and suitable candidate for the property.
Tenants can sign up for free property alerts and receive instant email updates anytime a new property to rent in East-Molesey in Surrey appears on TheHouseShop.com website.
TheHouseShop showcases a selection of cheap Buy To Let properties in East-Molesey in Surrey from professional and private advertisers that would make excellent investment options for landlords and BTL investors alike.


text:
/**
 * Original writed by DGmike
 * Forked to implement new usability by Patrick Müller github.com/mpatrick
 * Hosted on CODELAND's github page gituhub.com/codelandev/continent-country
 */

/* Dom Ready */
window.onDomReady = function dgDomReady(fn) {
  if (document.addEventListener)
    document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', fn, false);
  else
    document.onreadystatechange = function() {
      dgReadyState(fn);
    };
};

function dgReadyState(fn) {
  if (document.readyState == 'interactive') fn();
}

/* Object */
var dgContinentsCountries = function(data) {
  var defaultData = {
    continent: false,
    continentVal: '',
    country: false,
    countryVal: '',
    change: false
  };

  for (name in defaultData) {
    if (!data[name]) {
      data[name] = defaultData[name];
    }
  }

  var keys = ['continent', 'country'];
  if (data.change) {
    var nome, length = keys.length;
    for (var a = 0; a < length; a++) {
      nome = keys[a];
      if (data[nome].tagName) {
        var opt = document.createElement('select');
        opt.disabled = null;
        for (var i = 0; i < data[nome].attributes.length; i++) {
          var attr = data[nome].attributes[i];
          if (attr.name != 'type') {
            opt.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value);
          }
        }
        opt.size = 1;
        opt.disabled = false;
        data[nome].parentNode.replaceChild(opt, data[nome]);
        data[nome] = opt;
      }
    }
  }
  this.set(data.continent, data.country);
  this.start();

  var nome, length = keys.length;
  for (var i = 0; i < length; i++) {
    nome = keys[i];

    if (this[nome].getAttribute('value')) {
      data[nome + 'Val'] = this[nome].getAttribute('value');
    }

    if (data[nome + 'Val']) {
      var options = this[nome].options;
      if (nome == 'continent') this.continent.onchange();
      for (var j = 0; j < options.length; j++) {
        if (options[j].tagName == 'OPTION') {
          if (options[j].value == data[nome + 'Val']) {
            options[j].setAttribute('selected', true);
            if (nome == 'continent') {
              this.continent.selectedIndex = j;
              this.continent.onchange();
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }

  }

};

dgContinentsCountries.prototype = {
  continent: document.createElement('select'),
  country: document.createElement('select'),
  set: function(continent, country) {
    this.continent = continent;
    this.continent.dgContinentsCountries = this;
    this.country = country;
    this.continent.onchange = function() {
      this.dgContinentsCountries.run();
    };
  },
  start: function() {
    var continent = this.continent;
    while (continent.childNodes.length) continent.removeChild(continent.firstChild);
    for (var i = 0; i < this.continents.length; i++) this.addOption(continent, this.continents[i][0], this.continents[i][1]);
    this.addOption(country, '', 'Select a country');
  },
  run: function() {
    var sel = this.continent.selectedIndex;
    var itens = this.countries[sel];
    var itens_total = itens.length;

    var opts = this.country;
    while (opts.childNodes.length) opts.removeChild(opts.firstChild);

    for (var i = 0; i < itens_total; i++) this.addOption(opts, itens[i], itens[i]);
  },
  addOption: function(elm, val, text) {
    var opt = document.createElement('option');
    opt.appendChild(document.createTextNode(text));
    opt.value = val;
    elm.appendChild(opt);
  },
  continents: [
    ['', 'Select a continent'],
    ['Africa', 'Africa'],
    ['Antarctica', 'Antarctica'],
    ['Asia', 'Asia'],
    ['Oceania', 'Oceania'],
    ['Europe', 'Europe'],
    ['North America', 'North America'],
    ['South America', 'South America']
  ],
  countries: [
    /* Prompt */
    [''],
    /* Africa */
    ['Algeria', 'Angolia', 'Benin', 'Botswana', 'Burkina', 'Burundi', 'Cameroon', 'Central African Republic', 'Chad', 'Chana', 'Comoros Island', 'Congo', 'Congo (Zaire)', 'Cote D\'Ivoire', 'Djibouti', 'Egypt', 'Equatorial Guinea', 'Eritrea', 'Ethiopia', 'Gabon', 'Guinea', 'Guinea Bissau', 'Kenya', 'Lesotho', 'Liberia', 'Libya', 'Madagascar', 'Malawi', 'Mali', 'Mauritania', 'Mauritius', 'Morocco', 'Mozambique', 'Namibia', 'Niger', 'Nigeria', 'Rwanda', 'Sao Tomi and Principe', 'Senegal', 'Seychelles', 'Sierra Leone', 'Somalia', 'Republic of South Africa', 'Sudan', 'Swaziland', 'Tanzania', 'Tunisia', 'Togo', 'Uganda', 'Zambia', 'Zimbabwe'],

    /* Antarctica */
    ['Mainland Antarctica', 'United Kingdom (Islands only)'],

    /* Asia */
    ['Afghanistan', 'Armenia', 'Azerbaijan', 'Bahrain', 'Bangladesh', 'Bhutan', 'Brunei', 'Cambodia', 'China', 'Cyprus', 'Georgia', 'Iran', 'Iraq', 'India', 'Indonesia', 'Israel and Gaza', 'Japan', 'Jordan', 'Kazakstan', 'Kuwait', 'Kyrgzstan', 'Laos', 'Lebanon', 'Malaysia', 'Mongolia', 'Myanmar (Burma)', 'Nepal', 'North Korea', 'Oman', 'Pakistan', 'Palau', 'Phillipines', 'Quatar', 'Russian Federation', 'Saudi Arabia', 'South Korea', 'Sri Lanka', 'Syria', 'Taiwan', 'Tajikstan', 'Thailand', 'Turkey', 'Turkmenistan', 'United Arab Emirates', 'Uzbekistan', 'Vietnam', 'Yemen'],

    /* Oceania */
    ['Australia', 'Fiji', 'France (Islands only)', 'Kiribati', 'Marshall Islands', 'Micronesia, F.S.O', 'Nauru', 'New Zealand', 'Papua New Guinea', 'Solomon Islands', 'Tonga', 'Tuvalu', 'United Kingdom (Islands only)', 'Vanuatu', 'Western Samoa'],

    /* Europe */
    ['Albania', 'Andorra', 'Austria', 'Belarus', 'Belgium', 'Bosnia-Herzegovina', 'Bulgaria', 'Cape Verde', 'Croatia', 'Czech Republic', 'Denmark and Greenland', 'Estonia', 'Finland', 'France', 'Germany', 'Greece', 'Hungary', 'Iceland', 'Republic of Ireland', 'Italy', 'Latvia', 'Liechtenstein', 'Lithuania', 'Luxembourg', 'Macedonia', 'Malta', 'Moldova', 'Netherlands', 'Norway', 'Poland', 'Portugal', 'Romania', 'Russian Federation', 'Slovakia', 'Slovenia', 'Spain', 'Sweden', 'Switzerland', 'Turkey', 'Ukraine', 'United Kingdom', 'Yugoslavia'],

    /* North America */
    ['Barbados', 'Bahamas', 'Belize', 'Canada', 'Costa Rica', 'Cuba', 'Dominica', 'Dominican Republic', 'El Salvador', 'France (Islands only)', 'Greenland (Denmark)', 'Grenada', 'Guatemala', 'Haiti', 'Honduras', 'Jamaica', 'Mexico', 'Netherlands (Islands only)', 'Pacific Islands Inc. Hawaii', 'Panama', 'St Kitts-Nevis', 'St Lucia', 'St Vincent and the Grenadines', 'Trinidad and Tobago', 'United Kingdom (Islands only)', 'United States Of America'],

    /* South America */
    ['Argentina', 'Bolivia', 'Brazil', 'Chile', 'Colombia', 'Ecuador', 'French Guiana', 'Guyana', 'Nicaragua', 'Paraguay', 'Peru', 'Suriname', 'United Kingdom (Islands only)', 'Uruguay', 'Venezuela']
  ]
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Fire forces popular Toronto restaurant to close
by Marlene Mendonca Posted: November 19, 2019
The future of one of Toronto's favourite French restaurants is up in the air after a blaze ripped through it early Tuesday morning. Chantecler, a fixture in the Parkdale dining scene, is temporarily closed following the three-alarm fire.
Crews were called to the building, which also contains rental housing, in the wee hours of the morning after reports of the fire.
Great work by @Toronto_Fire crews to access and control the fire in this building on Queen Street West. All occupants are out of the building and accounted for without injury. 3rd alarm assigned. @TPFFA pic.twitter.com/G6300NPYtz
— Matthew Pegg (@ChiefPeggTFS) November 19, 2019
Fire Chief Matthew Pegg, who was on site on Tuesday morning, shared an image of the aftermath on Twitter and congratulated the firefighters for getting all residents out without injury.
FIRE Queen St W near Brock Ave – commercial property. Queen St W is now closed in the area. Choose an alternate. @tps11div @trafficservices 2231741 ^ma pic.twitter.com/mPDH5PK90f
— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) November 19, 2019
The fire was escalated to a three-alarm response when additional resources were called in due to the age of the building ––built in 1881––and its proximity to the other buildings in the neighbourhood.
According to Pegg, the fire was "intense initially" and "got into the walls of the building and extended vertically across all three floors." He explains that the challenge of the blaze was that it quickly "moved laterally and vertically."
The upper floor appears to have incurred the most damage. The image provided by Pegg and the restaurant show a broken third story window.
Chantecler also posted an image to Instagram stating, "there's been a fire at 1320 Queen. Everyone is safe. We don't believe it was a kitchen fire." The investigation continues as to the cause of the fire.
There's been a fire at 1320 Queen. Everyone is safe. We don't believe it was a kitchen fire. Unsure as to extent of damage. The restaurant and butcher shop will be closed today. We will update all of you with information as it becomes available. ❤
A post shared by Chantecler (@chanteclerto) on Nov 19, 2019 at 5:00am PST
Both Chantecler and its affiliated butcher Boucherie will be closed for the foreseeable future.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home | Publications| Encyclopedia | Rodeo
(21175.26, Frank Parman Collection, OHS).
A rodeo in Oklahoma City, 1998
(23389.201.60, Jim Argo Collection, OHS).
RODEO.
The sport of rodeo is the only American sporting event that grew out of an occupational activity: ranching. Rodeo's imagery has become so intertwined with the romanticized concept of the American cowboy that it has created a nostalgic aura permeating the culture of certain portions of American society, particularly the trans-Mississippi West region. The word "rodeo" is Hispanic in origin and refers to roundup. It was originally used to describe the activities at the occasional gatherings of regional ranch workers when the cowboys of particular ranches were pitted against those of others in riding and roping contests. By the mid-1880s these events became so popular across the West that they were held on a regular basis on Sunday afternoons and during holidays, particularly over the Fourth of July. The celebrated contests soon began to be formalized into advertised events. Contestants won prizes, and audiences paid admission fees. Although there is considerable debate about when and where the first formal rodeo took place, historians generally recognize that Pecos, Texas, in 1883 was the first to offer prizes and that Prescott, Arizona, in 1888 was the first to charge admission. With the formalization of rodeos the events began to be presented by rodeo producers. In much the same fashion as Wild West Shows and circuses, the rodeo came to include a host of specialty acts unrelated to ranching activities. Although modern rodeo retains some of the spectacle, such as the grand entry and rodeo clown acts, the primary focus has always been competition, in which cowboys win prize monies by their performance in various riding and roping contests.
Rodeo had no standard rules, and many billed their events as "world championships." Therefore, in any given year there were numerous claimants to the title of "world champion cowboy." In 1929 a group of rodeo producers formed the Rodeo Association of America (RAA) to standardize rules, establish a point system to determine world champions, monitor judges, and establish fair practices in awarding prize money. This caused considerable dissatisfaction among the rodeo cowboys, who had no organization to represent their interests. Trouble brewed. On October 30, 1936, sixty-one cowboys banded together and voted to strike the giant Boston Garden Rodeo to protest the paltry prize money. Three years later, on November 6, 1939, the men formed the Cowboys Turtle Association (CTA), to represent contestants' interests. In 1945 the CTA changed its name to the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA), which, in turn, some twenty years later became the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).
PRCA–sanctioned events are saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, team roping, and single steer roping. Barrel riding is the only women's event sanctioned at PRCA rodeos. The point system used by the PRCA to determine each year's world champion titles was developed by the RAA in 1929. The method was adopted by the RCA in 1945 as one point for each dollar won in sanctioned competition.
In 1959, with interest in the sport growing, the PRCA added a National Finals Rodeo (NFR) as a culmination of the year's sporting activities. The NFR allows that year's fifteen leading contestants in each event to compete for significant purses. The competition many times determines the world championship in single events as well as the All Around World Champion. The first NFR was held in Dallas, but the venue was moved to Los Angeles from 1962 through 1964. Oklahoma City hosted the NFR for the next twenty years. Since 1986 the event has become a premier event in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it has grown into the largest and most significant rodeo in the world.
In addition to the PRCA a number of rodeo associations have existed. The most important is the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA). It began in 1938 when the Southwestern Rodeo Association (SRA) was formed for the benefit of rodeo performers who could not compete full time. The SRA changed its name to the National Rodeo Association (NRA) in 1942; four years later the NRA and the RAA merged to form the International Rodeo Association (IRA), which later changed its name to the present IPRA.
From rodeo's beginnings in the 1880s and through the 1930s women performed in the same contests as men. However, by the end of World War II women had been largely excluded from the PRCA events. Consequently, on July 4, 1948, they formed the Girls' Rodeo Association (GRA), later changed to the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), to promote all-woman rodeos. Through the efforts of this organization, barrel racing became a sanctioned PRCA event. Since World War II a number of youth rodeo associations formed, including the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) in 1949, the National High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA) in 1949, and the American Junior Rodeo Association (AJRA) in 1952. In recent years several "old timers" rodeo associations have developed to allow senior citizens to display their talents. Ranch rodeos have also revived, pitting cowboys from one ranch against those from another, much as was done at the beginning of the sport in the 1870s and 1880s.
The mystique of the cowboy, as manifested in "the rodeo cowboy," is particularly prevalent in the small town and rural areas of Oklahoma. That is where the equine business, an important part of the state's economy, is centered. This rural attachment to local rodeo harkens to the prestatehood era. The earliest recorded rodeo in Oklahoma was held in the mid-1880s at Benton, in the Panhandle (No Man's land). Local cowboys from regional ranches competed there. By 1891 several towns were well known for their shows, held on an irregular basis and at some time in the summer months following roundup. These events, focusing on riding and roping skills, were common across Oklahoma Territory by the beginning of the twentieth century. Contests are documented in such far-flung locations as Beaver County in the Panhandle (1891), Vinita in the northeast (1901), and El Reno and Shawnee in the central region (1901). In 1903 at Oklahoma City's Colcord Park twenty thousand spectators witnessed riding and roping contests as part of the entertainment presented in association with the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Convention. A huge success, the event was repeated for several years; in 1906 the featured attraction was a matched steer roping between J. Ellison Carroll of Mangum, who was billed as the world's champion steer roper, and the legendary Clay McGonigall of Texas, from whom Carroll had won the title the previous year. Carroll won the rematch and became something of a celebrity across Oklahoma.
The era between 1907 statehood and the end of World War I in 1919 witnessed the formal establishment of a regular schedule of rodeos around the state. Notable was the Dewey Roundup, begun in 1908 and operated continuously until the 1950s. In its heyday, this rodeo attracted thousands of spectators and featured the best performers in the nation during its three- to six-day run over the Fourth of July holiday. The Dewey Roundup's popularity prompted others; all of them featured a variety of entertainment activities harkening back to the Wild West shows of an earlier era. Typical was a 1909 stunt in which J. Ellison Carroll, riding in an automobile, roped a steer. As late as 1929 at Shawnee a rodeo cowboy attempted to bulldog a steer from an airplane; he missed and was arrested for failing to complete his contract. He was quoted as not understanding the charge, as he had completed the stunt a few weeks earlier at the 101 Ranch show (although he spent some time in the hospital after his plane crashed).
By 1938, 550,000 spectators annually attended scores of rodeos across Oklahoma. During this era, in 1934 the legendary Tulsa Stampede began a run that lasted until 1984. There Bob Wills and later his brother Johnnie Lee provided musical entertainment each year. Every town of any size had a local rodeo, and by the late 1930s the sport's tremendous popularity prompted the establishment of numerous roundup clubs. These organizations provided grassroots support for amateur rodeos and developed a host of riding and roping contests from which sprang numerous Oklahoma rodeo champions. In the early twenty-first century more than a hundred of these organizations existed in the state, providing training for budding rodeo performers or just plain fun for weekend sportsmen. Perhaps the most famous of these clubs is the International Roundup Cavalcade. Held at Pawhuska each year since 1947, it attracts as many as seventy-five roundup clubs and thousands of spectators to its amateur rodeo.
A number of world champion rodeo cowboys have developed out of this Oklahoma milieu. Among them are Ote Berry (steer wrestling, 1985, 1990–91, 1995), John Bowman (all-around, 1936; steer roping, 1933, 1936), Louis Brooks (all-around, 1943–44; bareback riding, 1942, 1944; saddle bronc, 1943–44), Freckles Brown (bull riding, 1962), Clyde Burk (calf roping, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1944), Benny Combs (steer wrestling, 1955), Willard Combs (steer wrestling, 1957), Roy Cooper (all-around, 1983; calf roping, 1976, 1980–84; steer roping, 1983), Roy Duvall (steer wrestling, 1967, 1969, 1972), Tom Ferguson (all-around, 1974–79; calf roping, 1974; steer wrestling, 1977–78), Lane Frost (bull riding, 1987), Billy Hale (steer wrestling, 1971), Ben Johnson (steer roping, 1953), Teddy Johnson (steer wrestling, 2003), Clark McEntire (steer roping, 1957–58, 1961), John McEntire (steer roping, 1934), Tom Nesmith (all-around, 1962; steer wrestling, 1962), Gene Ross (steer wresting, 1937), Ike Rude (steer roping, 1941, 1947, 1953), Buck Rutherford (all-around, 1954), Everett Shaw (steer roping, 1945–46, 1948, 1951, 1959, 1962), Jim Shoulders (all-around, 1949, 1956–59; bareback riding, 1950, 1956–58; bull riding, 1951, 1954–59), Dick Truitt (steer roping, 1939), Shoat Webster (steer roping, 1949–50, 1954–55), and Todd Whatley (all-around, 1947; bareback riding, 1953; steer wrestling, 1947).
Bobby D. Weaver
See also: RANCH RODEO, RECREATION AND ENTERTAINMENT, STATE FAIR OF OKLAHOMA, TULSA STATE FAIR, WILD WEST SHOWS AND PERFORMERS
Michael Allen, Rodeo Cowboys in the North American Imagination (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1998).
Biographical Sketches of Rodeo Hall of Fame Inductees, Vertical Files, Rodeo Historical Society Hall of Fame, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Kristine Fredriksson, American Rodeo From Buffalo Bill to Big Business (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1985).
Donald E. Green, Panhandle Pioneer (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1976).
Teresa Jordan, Cowgirls: Women of the American West (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press, 1982).
Roger D. Hardaway, "Oklahoma's African American Rodeo Performers," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 89 (Fall 2011).
Mary Lou LeCompt, Cowgirls of Rodeo (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1993).
Willard Porter, Who's Who in Rodeo (Oklahoma City: Powder River Book Co., 1982).
Beverly J. Stoeltje, "Rodeo From Custom to Ritual," Western Folklore 48 (July, 1989).
Clifford P. Westermeier, Man, Beast, and Dust (1947; reprint, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987).
Bobby D. Weaver, "Rodeo," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=RO014.
The Hinton rodeo, featuring trick riding and steer riding, 1939
(F2011.012.001, Haskell Pruett Collection, OHS)


text:
MacNovel
Mike Clarke's Adventures in Creative Writing — and Stand-Up
Tag: the Apprentice
2016 Wasn't All Bad — If You Picture It Like This
On top of everything else that happened in 2016, it wasn't a great year for my blog posts. I've managed to update the blog at least once a month for the past few years but since my post on the EU referendum at the end of June, I've only managed one more — an overdue review of Isabel Costello's debut novel (albeit a long one).
Looking back, despite my best intentions, I'm still not exactly sure why I've not managed to keep up the previously modest level of posting activity. It's probably prioritisation by default as I'm still writing and doing just as much interesting stuff in between. There's also been various developments with the novel that I'm not really able to publicly blog about on here.
But one thing I've kept doing, mainly because it's nowhere near as time-consuming as blogging, is taking lots of photos.
So in the spirit of a picture telling a thousand words here's a photographic run through 2016 with a bit of commentary along the way
Perhaps one reason for being distracted from blogging is that I've spent the past year working in Soho. For example this place is just around the corner…
Beer Porn @ Brewdog Soho
…and even though it's no longer the groovy Swinging Sixties, there are enough spontaneous 'happenings' around where I work for me to have grabbed the odd evocative photo, like this one…
Swinging Soho July 2016
I walk past this iconic place almost daily (it was interesting to see it featured in The Apprentice this year)…
Liberty at Night
…and along here often too (and at the moment it's worth walking to the end of Carnaby Street to the pop up shop set up by the V&A Museum in association with their You Say You Want A Revolution Exhibition).
And there's plenty of things to be distracted by nearby — like the amazing Christmas angels in Regent Street…
Regent Street Angel, Christmas 2016
…or just weird London scenes like this.
Oxford Street, Summer 2016
Sometimes it's been restorative to occasionally get away from it all and lie (albeit briefly) under a tree on a patch of grass in one of those rare summer lunchtimes.
The Best View of London on a Summer Lunchtime
I don't say much here about the 'day job'. Until late 2015 that was partly because I might have been taken out and shot if I said too much! OK. That was meant to be a gross exaggeration about working in a government ministry but the way Theresa May's government is treating its civil servants then perhaps it's not. Nevertheless, I have a hazy recollection that I may have signed the Official Secrets Act, not that I had access to much secret stuff but I did work almost literally at the heart of government. I walked daily through the doors of a large ministry — one that was often on the front page of the newspapers — and shared lifts with cabinet ministers.
While I wasn't exactly Sir Humphrey, I was given invaluable direct experience of the the way government works.
And in terms of writing benefit, I gained insider knowledge of the criminal justice system, through working with the police, HM Courts and Tribunals system ( even doing some work for those seditionary "enemies of the people" in the UK Supreme Court).
It's all fantastic material should any of my future novels head in the direction of crime or politics.
The organisation where I now spend most of my nine-to-five working hours couldn't be more different. I won't go into specific detail but it's a media-tech company (hence the Soho base) and uses a lot of clever technology to encourage people to pay money to look as absurd as the people below…
The Future of Entertainment?
(Apparently the gun isn't on sale yet.) Actually, the VR (Virtual Reality) experience is so immersive that these people won't care how they look from the outside. I've tried VR and it's convincing. I predict that the technology could be on the cusp of going mainstream. And don't take my word for it — creating a VR game was another activity to be featured on this season's Apprentice.
2016 produced some unexpected recognition for my writing — non-fiction this time.
I was elected (or admitted or whatever they do) to full membership of the British Guild of Beer Writers. It might seem surprising to some that this organisation even exists but it has a few hundred members, including household names and virtually every author of a book on beer or pubs or contributor on the subject to any broadsheet newspaper or TV or radio broadcast.
I was elected to full membership on the basis of published examples of my writing (which I don't tend to talk about much on this blog) so it's a huge honour to be in the company of so many illustrious and expert writers in that field.
Here's the image that adorns my entry in the BGBW website directory.I'm hard at work at the beer tasting side of the job!
British Guild of Beer Writers Profile Picture
Being a member of the guild let me rub shoulders with the movers and shakers of the beer writing world at their awards ceremony, including the odd, hairy beer-loving celebrity.
Two Hairy People
But even though my blog posts may have slipped off the radar, I'm still writing a lot of fiction, even on holiday in France (see below).
Writing by the River Dronne in France
I could get used to that lifestyle.
With various things happening with The Angel (which, as it's a book, have been invariably slow moving) , I've been hard at work on another novel. A heavily adapted version of the new novel's opening even won a prize in the Winchester Writers' Festival Writing Can Be Murder crime writing awards this year.
I've kept in touch with many writing friends, enjoying their successes, for example, with winning stories at Liars' League and other writing -related developments that can't be blogged about. I've also kept up my involvement with the RNA (see previous post) and received another great critique from their New Writers' Scheme.
By providing a series of non-negotiable deadlines every few weeks, my membership of a writing group in London has proved invaluable. I've propped myself up and carried on writing well into the early hours on several occasions by working on a piece from the new novel. In the summer I carried on once or twice for the whole night — going to bed (briefly) once that sun had risen.
The standard of my fellow writing group members is generally excellent (one reason why I burn the midnight oil to try to make my submissions at least presentable) and we're very fortunate that the group is run by someone who's a professional writing tutor at City University and novelist.
The group's feedback is excellent — both illuminating and honest — although not usually as brutally frank as the comment below.
I'll save details of the current work-in-progress for another post. However, the next few photos might give a clue about some some of the things I've been doing that could act as background research for the world of the novel.
Here's a shot of a pile of books waiting to be read…
Books for Research 1
…and below is another example of my methodical approach to shelving books (Owl Song At Dawn is an excellent novel published this year by my old City University creative writing tutor, Emma Claire Sweeney, who organises Something Rhymed — see earlier post).
I've not been to any music concerts quite as jaw-dropping at Kate Bush's Before the Dawn (whose recording of the shows was released a few weeks ago and allowed me to relive sitting right in front of the spectacle — and the sonic battering of Omar Hakim's drums — listen to the extended version of King of the Mountain on the CD and you'll know what I mean).
But during the year I've been to see a couple of other giants of music from the past thirty or so years. Most recently I saw Nile Rodgers, also at the Hammersmith Apollo, who performed an incredibly energetic set of hits by Chic, Sister Sledge, Diana Ross and others (several of which I heard a few days later being played from loudspeakers in Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland) and he also played an obscure favourite of mine, Spacer, originally by French singer, Sheila B.
Nile Rodgers, Hammersmith Apollo, 23rd December 2016
Seeing Bruce Springsteen live has been one of those bucket list items I've always wanted to experience so I took my opportunity when he played Wembley Stadium in June along with 80,000 or so others. Elsewhere in the stadium were Bruce fans and writing acquaintances (and tweeters) Louise Walters (whose second novel is published imminently) and Pete Domican.
Springsteen's stamina and his rapport with a stadium audience are awesome. He played from around 6.30pm to just before 10pm, non-stop. The sound where I was sitting in the south stand was fairly ropy but I was more dumbfounded by the behaviour of the people in the (not very cheap) seats around me. As can be seen from one of the earlier photos, I like a pint of beer, but many of the mostly middle-aged, middle-class audience seemed to treat the Springsteen show like a visit to a very expensive pub — possibly reliving their rose-tinted memories of some student bar. They constantly shuttled to and from the very expensive Wembley bar and then, inevitably, to the toilets. While loudly declaring their devotion to 'The Boss', some dedicated fans danced with their backs to the stage and got so drunk they either had to leave before the end. Some wouldn't have remembered it anyway.
Springsteen,Wembley, June 2016
I was a little dubious in advance about another music-related experience in the summer — visiting the Latitude Festival in Suffolk in July. I wanted to go mainly to see Grimes: who's nothing to do with the music genre grime, but a hugely innovative and original musician from Canada whose music defies any easy description — being both catchy and experimental — and mainly, but not exclusively, electronic.
It was described as one critic as being simultaneously like everything you've ever heard reassembled and remixed in a way which sounds like nothing you've ever heard before. That strikes me as something interesting to aspire towards in writing.
What massively impresses me about Grimes is that, with the exception of a couple of guest vocalists, she writes, sings, plays all the instruments, produces and engineers her recordings. I never get bored listening to her most recent album, the brilliant Art Angels . 'Don't be boring' is another great rule of thumb.
Her live performance was equally original and self-reliant, accompanied by only a couple of dancers and her recent collaborator, Hana, on guitar (on left in photo below).
Grimes at Latitude, July 2016
While waiting for Grimes, I had an unexpected opportunity to see Slaves, a two man guitar and drum modern-punk group. While the group themselves would be unlikely to dispute that their music is the opposite of subtle, their performance was amazingly good humoured (with songs about commuting like Cheer Up London or fat-cat bankers 'Rich man,
I'm not your bitch man') and created such an engagement with the audience that the FT reviewer described it as 'life affirming'.
Before Slaves I was blown away by an electrifying performance by Christine and the Queens. Along with Art Angels, I must have listened to Chaleur Humaine (Christine and the Queen's debut album) more than any others this year. I went to one of their two shows at Brixton Academy in November for a repeat of the live experience.
I've always had a fondness for French electronic music (Air are another of my favourites). When Héloïse Letissier (Christine is her alter-ego) announced 'Welcome to the French disco!' at the start of Science Fiction, one of my favourite tracks, it seemed an appropriate riposte to the narrow-minded bigotry and xenophobia that has scarred other aspects of 2016 which far too many despicable politicians and newspaper editors spent much the year cultivating.
Christine and the Queens are inclined to do unexpected cover versions live and I had the spine-tingling moment of serendipity when they covered Good Life by Inner City, at the time of its release in the late 1980's a much-underrated track, but one of those tracks everyone seems to know — maybe because of the almost improvised vocal line that wanders where it's least expected? But I guess Christine and the Queens may have picked it as an antidote to all 2016's other shit?
At the other end of the socio-political spectrum to Slaves' music, I'd been wary of Latitude's reputation as the Waitrose of music festivals — with rehabilitated hippies regressing to the behaviours they liked to say they indulged in their youths. And, indeed, during the day there was indeed a scattering of baby-boomer types trying to press-gang their extended families into enjoying the festival in a conspicuously worthy way.
Boomer grandchildren were transported around in flower-garlanded trolleys like this one…
Starting Them Young at Latitude
…and as it got later the place became more like a pop-up Center Parcs, except the vegetal aromas in the forest weren't coming from wood burning fires. Eventually as the night wore on and the older people retired to their luxury tents the sound-systems and DJ sets attracted large, bouncing swathes of younger people, like moths to the flashing lights.
Wandering through the woods I came across a series of artists' nstallations — and immediately recognised the brightly-coloured faces of David Shillinglaw's work (whose studio I visited a couple of years ago with Love Art London). He's an exceptionally friendly person and showed me around his unmistakable collection of positively painted sheds, which transformed into a music sound-system after dark.
David Shillinglaw's Exhortation at Latitude 2016
I'd visited Latitude for the music but was most impressed by the festival's showcasing of all types of art. When I first arrived I stopped off at the the literary arena to listen to an author interview with the Bailey's Prize winner, Lisa McInery. It was a nice touch to have a bookshop on site.
Coming a few weeks after the EU referendum result, Latitude was a refreshing distraction that emphasised the pleasures found away from the poisonous and vindictive political atmosphere. Ironically, the industries represented by Latitude — art, music , comedy, dance, theatre and literature — are those in which the UK is an undisputed world leader (reflected in much of the content of this blog over the past few years) but seem undervalued by the closed-minded, xenophobic, anti-intellectual, expert-dismissing philistinism of the pro-leave bigots.
The opposite of a huge festival like Latitude is the proverbial gig in the back of a pub. I spent a fascinating evening in July on the Camden Rock'n'Roll Walking Tour, led by Alison Wise. Covering the amazing musical heritage of a relatively small part of London between Camden Town tube station and the Roundhouse near Chalk Farm.
I was especially pleased that we stopped off in several pubs on the way. Each pub had a strong association with one of Camden's music scenes through the last few decades. The Hawley Arms was Amy Winehouse's local (with the likes of the Libertines as regulars), The Good Mixer was where the leading Britpop bands hung out, the areas around Dingwalls and Camden Lock have many punk associations and the Dublin Castle in Parkway launched the careers of Madness and many other early eighties bands.
Dublin Castle, Camden
And here's me with Molly from Minnesota (the only time I've ever met her) inside the Dublin Castle in a photo taken by Alison at the end of the tour.
A Pint with Molly from Minnesota in the Dublin Castle
It's surprising how many of Alison's tours round Camden and elsewhere are filled by tourists from overseas rather than native Brits or Londoners. Even though I'd worked in Camden for five years a while ago I still learned a lot from the tour — all relevant for writing purposes too. Alison also does Bowie Soho tours and album cover pub crawls which I'm sure are excellent.
I've read a lot of books over the year, although nowhere near as many as I'd intended. I've worked my way through a lot of musical biographies and autobiographies, including Chrissie Hynde's frank Reckless, the bizarre Paul Morley prose of Grace Jones's I'll Never Write My Memoirs and the beautifully written (and non-ghosted) Boys In The Trees by the wonderful Carly Simon.
A few Sunday Times bestselling blockbusters have also made it on to my reading list, mostly out of curiosity to understand the reasons for their success. After having read them, in most cases, I'm not much the wiser.
So I've been busy, enjoying lots of new experiences and taking many more photos than those above. It's even more worthwhile then those experiences to settle into the subconscious, interact and collide and spark off little bits of unexpected inspiration I can later use in my writing. And to help the process, there's nothing like taking a bit of time out and reflect.
So the last photo in the post was taken on a long walk between Christmas and New Year s the sun was setting over the Chilterns — a hopefully prescient, peaceful image to usher in 2017.
Deer Against the Chilterns Sunset
Into the Woods with Robert Galbraith
Ironically, the big literary story of July, and probably of 2013, has been the real-life whodunit over the authorship of a novel about a private detective. Even those who don't follow book news with my keen interest will know the story of how the sleuthing instigated by India Knight and the Sunday Times uncovered the 'real' identity of debut crime novelist, Robert Galbraith as being the phenomenally best-selling J.K. Rowling.
'Harry Potter Author 's Pitiful Sales Figures' seemed to sum up the tone of much coverage – the implication being that books that Rowling puts her name to sell on reputation rather than merit. However, one of the most sobering facts one learns about the publishing industry from a writer's perspective is that Galbraith's hardback sales of 1,500 before the unmasking (as the BBC reported) are relatively impressive for a debut author. The book industry's sales volumes are very polarised, weighted towards a tiny number of best-selling titles — not so much the 80-20 principle but probably more 99-1.
The story has been well publicised about how a lawyer's wife's indiscretion on Twitter caused the secret to be spilled. Yet how Galbraith's 'debut' novel managed to attract enough interest to merit such investigation into the author's identity is less clear. India Knight's attention was aroused by a review in the Sunday Times — but it's a very lucky debut author who gets that kind of coverage from the critics.
To many yet-to-be published novelists – from whose ranks Galbraith was meant to have emerged – there seemed to be a red herring in the detective story. It was reported that the unusually high quality of Galbraith's debut, The Cuckoo's Calling, had set the antennae twitching of some big name authors and literary establishment figures. In her Sunday Times column India Knight qualified this by pointing out Galbraith made observations she thought would only be perceived by a female writer.
A work by an unknown author has enormous odds stacked against its chances of publication. Accordingly, to mitigate the risk of rejection, much of the most sensible advice to the aspiring novelist is simply to 'make it the best that it can be'. To ensure that manuscripts are suitably honed and polished there's a multitude of courses, writing groups, conferences, magazines, mentors, manuscript assessment services. (And that's before the publisher's expert professionals get to work on a title.)
To those working on a putative debut novel, it seems that the bar for acceptance of a manuscript is set exceptionally high. A number of unpublished writers I know are also going through the soul-destroying process of submitting the product of their hard work to agents, or through agents to publishers (a process which appears at least equally frustrating as acquiring an agent in the first place, although difficulties at this stage are less well publicised.)
So it seems puzzling that someone might say: 'We must investigate that Galbraith ex-army chap because his book stands head and shoulders above the rest of those so-so debuts.' Unsurprisingly, the explanation that The Cuckoo's Calling was a beacon of assured writing in a sea of emergent mediocrity didn't go down too well with several first-time novelists I know on Twitter – who ironically began to refer to their work as 'mere' debuts.
I was reading Into the Woods by John Yorke when the controversy erupted, a book recommended to me a fellow student from the City University course who's been part of my workshopping group for the last year or so. As well as being a fascinating read in its own right, some of the insights in the book may offer a more persuasive explanation of why Rowling's work – rather than being subjectively better – may have stood out from the crowd because of the its unique path to publication.
Yorke is a TV executive who has been responsible for many of the most successful and innovative programmes of the last decade or two (e.g. Life on Mars). Into the Woods is a book on the fundamental importance of structure in storytelling and to all literary and dramatic forms.
The book references other well-known works on story and plotting, such as Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots and Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey. At times I found it irritatingly dismissive of others' theories, with Yorke claiming more fundamental insights.
However, the book is less about originality of analysis than stripping back well-known concepts to expose their basis in some universal truths, common to all humanity. In places this reduction appeared to have been abstracted to a level of almost meaningless generality — every event has a beginning and an end and something happens in between or that things change over time (and Newton's Third Law is cited as the a root of character interaction).
The structure of the book itself also ignores its own advice. Rather than build revelation of its conclusions over a narrative arc, the main points are stated upfront in the first chapter and to a large extent repeated and refined in later chapters – a fairly common trait in non-fiction books that don't have the momentum of a plot to carry the reader through to the end.
On the other hand, I was intrigued by the breadth of research. Maslow's hierarchy of needs was referenced — a psychological model of human motivation that I studied on my MBA and that I've used to some extent to explore characters' motivation in my novel.
The book also touches on the importance of story in non-creative writing and other types of communication. The book has made me realise that the aspects of my 'day job' which I gravitate towards usually involve some sort of narrative. Typically, I examine the underlying structure of interactions and consider root causes of conflict and risk. I then create narratives which transforms a situation as is it now into some future current state, breaking it down into sub-components and their impact on individual 'actors'. Conceptually, it's not hugely different to novel writing.
When the underlying concepts are interlinked to create the template of a classic three or five act story, the book's arguments become very persuasive. Most of the many examples Yorke uses to demonstrate his arguments are films or television programmes (Thelma and Louise is a particular favourite) but he also references Shakespeare's plays and some novels.
The emphasis placed on symmetry throughout a story is fascinating. The mid-point of a well-constructed plot is pinpointed as the pivot at which the most fundamental change occurs. This complements the more traditionally taught theory of a pair of inciting incidents (the call to action and the precipitating crisis) at the ends of acts one and act two/four (depending on whether a three or five act structure is applied).
It's not just fictional narratives that fit this basic structure. Like me, Yorke has noted the way the classic act structure is ruthlessly applied to reality television. Every episode of The Apprentice is a template of archetypal narrative clarity: the task is set, problems are overcome until a defining moment of crisis, then there's the reckoning in the board room and the resolution of the firing. Its brilliant and ruthless editing is an example to anyone with an interest in storytelling: every shot and cut has significance and the viewer is challenged to piece together the subtext behind even the most apparently trivial details.
Yorke also argues that story structure exists in fractals — i.e. each larger unit of story is formed of a collection of similar sub-components down to the level of scene (and, arguably of paragraph or sentence). Each of these elements must also conform to the demands of a universal dramatic structure. Like the stunning geometric images that are generated from the aggregation and interaction of repeated fractals, the rich complexity of a great story is also formed out of tiny, similar components.
However, few (if any) writers plot such a low level in deliberate detail (chapters certainly but less so scenes and certainly not paragraphs). So, if the fractal argument holds, then writers must subconsciously arrange these small-scale structural elements. The better storyteller the writer is, then arguably the more innate is their mastery of these fundamental patterns. This aptitude then, perhaps, represents an essential quality that suffuses an author's writing.
As with natural orators, these qualities might be psychologically rooted in personality, reflecting the way a writer interacts with the world as a whole – or something learned through cultural osmosis — and difficult, if not impossible, to teach.
This leads back to the Galbraith/Rowling identity question. While J.K. Rowling's prose style attracts criticism – for its unfashionably frequent use of adverbs and adjectives as qualifiers and a tendency to be very heavy on description – it's commonly agreed that she tells a good story and can handle a large set of characters. Yorke himself uses examples from the narrative arc that spans Harry Potter's seven volumes.
Rowling's success managing Harry Potter's epic narrative may signify an instinctive ability to handle the fundamental building blocks of story. If this talent is combined with the experience of the adaptation of the series over eight films, then it's hardly unexpected that she could master a highly structured genre, such as detective fiction.
I've not read any detailed accounts of the extent to which The Cuckoo's Calling was offered around other publishers before being taken up by Rowling's existing imprint. However, the circumstances under which the book was written would have been almost the opposite to those experienced by most debut authors (including Rowling herself in the past). The manuscript was almost certainly assured of publication (revealing the real author's identity would have done the trick instantly) and the motives for using a pen name may have been to gauge the reception of the work when given a low-key launch without any attendant hype. The text may have been reflected these circumstances.
If you're not J.K. Rowling or other writer with an established track record, then the first objective is to catch the attention of the professional reader who might give your manuscript little time to make its impact. Much advice to aspiring writers concentrates almost exclusively on perfecting a novel's opening (I even have a book called The First Five Pages).
This is where the interests of the typical reader diverge from the professional sifter — the agent, editor or review short-lister. Someone who's made an investment in cash and set time aside to buy and read a book contrast with those under pressure to convert the time they spend reading submissions into money. When we pay money up front for a book it's after being influenced by factors other than the text itself — and our expectations are set to enjoy the read. It's also why so many more readers will read The Cuckoo's Calling now the real author has been identified.
The review by Cathy Rentzenbrink in the Bookseller is honest and very eye-opening for a writer. She quickly skimmed a pre-publication copy of The Cuckoo's Nest to select titles for a crime 'best of' list, reading 18 pages before passing over the book. After Rowling was revealed as the author she read the whole novel and freely admitted that her initial judgement wasn't able to reflect the quality of the overall book, because the opening hadn't done it justice. Similarly, other reviews mentioned the slow opening and a 'gentle pace'. An editor who admitted rejecting the book described it as 'well-written but quiet'.
It could be argued that Yorke's approach to structure is at odds with the advice to start in media res that is commonly given to writers. Of course, it should go without saying that a novel ought to open in a way that immediately engages the reader's interest – every word in a novel should justify its place. Also, if you buy the fractal theory, the opening should be a hook into the first act, which ought to have a narrative arc of its own.
Nevertheless, the model of symmetrical story structure requires that characters, their predicament and the setting be properly established. It sets up the significant action of change or transformation which takes place at the inciting incident at the end of the first act – generally about a fifth to a quarter of the way through the story. This then allows a corresponding period for resolution at the end of the story.
If a writer jumps straight in at the outset with an inciting incident then the reader may become disorientated and to compensate the author may try to shoehorn vital missing information into clunky passages of exposition or the confusing overuse of flashbacks.
The writers and critics who read The Cuckoo's Calling and formed a favourable impression may have unconsciously identified that it was somehow different to most debut novels. Perhaps debut novelists, assimilating all the advice on how to attract attention to their work, share certain traits — and possibly other authors with a long backlist can identify these. Perhaps Robert Galbraith was a notable exception? The idea might have be more plausible than the notion that debuts are inherently of lower quality.
I've spent much time concentrating on the opening of my novel. I know that it's crucially important in demonstrating the complete manuscript's potential to the time-pressed readers. The first three chapters have been professionally read twice. But as Yorke's book argues and, perhaps the Rowling/Galbraith story demonstrates, the rest of the book also needs to perform as a coherent and satisfying whole. And it's perhaps the writers who also understand and appreciate the fundamentals of storytelling that eventually stand out — once they've nailed those first five knockout pages.
Buckfast or Books?
I've sadly under-nourished this blog over the past few weeks for a couple of good reasons and one that's, unfortunately, not so satisfying.
The first good reason is that I'm trying to get the novel manuscript revised after Emma Sweeney's feedback (the two solid weeks mentioned in previous posts) and I've decided to ask her to look over the first three chapters of the novel in more detail as these are what it will initially be assessed on by agents.
Incidentally I was invited by Emma on Thursday to the Literary Club at New York University in London, where she teaches, and I met the novelist Edward Hogan who was giving a reading. I had a short chat with him and he's really nice chap. Several people have recommended his novels Blackmoor and The Hunger Trace and the reading he gave us from the latter was very compelling.
The second reason for lack of blog updates is fitting in lots of commitments in general life. As well as the evening at NYU in London, we had a rare evening workshop with the ex-City stalwarts on Tuesday and there have been some gripping, if disappointing, Premier League matches that haven't escaped my attention.
But Saturday was something of a ceremonial milestone as I went to up to Birmingham,
All Robed Up
where I spent three years as an undergraduate, for my Open University MSc degree ceremony at the Symphony Hall.
(As a strange co-incidence, the redeveloped canals of city-centre Birmingham — one of which I'm posing next to — play a part in my MA course-mate Kerry's novel-in-progress.)
It's been over a year since I finished the MSc (see this post about when I got the hard copies back) and I could have gone to earlier graduation ceremonies but I wanted one at a weekend and I thought it quite appropriate to return to the scene of my undergraduate dissolution. The Birmingham Symphony Hall was an impressive venue — preferable imho to the OU's London location for graduation — the Barbican (where I was presented with my MBA from Kingston University) — described as a 'concrete bunker' by someone I work with who had a choice of Barbican or Brighton Pavilion for his OU graduation.
I'm such an OU advocate that I went back to look at the website to see if there were any courses I could do that might advance some of the interests I've picked up in the long process of researching this novel — art being an obvious choice but also architecture and psychology.
I had a shock when I saw the cost of a 60 point humanities course had shot up to £2,500. I had a look at the prices for the Creative Writing and Advanced Creative Writing courses — and both were also the same price. When I first enrolled for Creative Writing back in 2007 I'm sure the cost was more like £600.
Perhaps the government has cut the OU's funding — but the OU may also feel it can justify charging more because 360 points earns a student a bachelor's degree — so £15,000 at current prices which is far less than the £27,000 or so students will have to pay at most conventional universities.
This means anyone taking the same creative writing courses as those I did will need to shell out £5k nowadays — which, I suppose, makes me appreciate more the amount and quality of creative writing teaching that I've been taking almost continuously for the last five years — and this in turn makes me think that I need to push myself to try and get a return on all this investment (hence less time spent blogging recently and more writing the novel). And perhaps mercifully for my leisure time the OU's new fees deter me from casually signing up to a new Arts course on the basis that it looks interesting.
It's very easy for an aspiring writer to spend a lot of money in the quest to become published and I wonder if more money is now made by people charging for courses, manuscript appraisals, consultancy, conferences and so on than is made by writers in the act of writing itself (if you take the likes of J.K.Rowling out of the calculation). It seems that plenty of excellent published writers supplement their scandalously meagre income from writing in this way.
However, this might not be such an odd model for the future — it's how activities like sport, art or cookery are organised — with a few star professionals whom the masses aspire to emulate. Even though they know they'll never be Wayne Rooney or Damien Hirst or Jamie Oliver, millions are happy to practice in their own leisure time and pay others for tuition. If writing hasn't already adopted this model it might be because of the high fixed costs of publishing — but now with cheap access to e-publishing and print on demand — then there are fewer barriers to much wider, paying participation as with sport.
But back to the graduation ceremony. One thing that struck me was the demographic composition of my fellow graduates. Probably two thirds of those being ceremonially conferred with a degree were women — and women of all ages. The men were skewed much more towards the older age group — I was told that I was one of the few who didn't have grey hair (not enough to notice on a stage anyway). This might not have been surprising for postgraduates but the undergraduates outnumbered us by about 8 to 1.
This ties in with evidence, such as that cited in The Economist's Megachange book that I was given to read, that women already outnumber men overall in the tertiary education sector. If, as we're told by forecasters like The Economist, that the future of work will depend much more on the sort of intelligence and innovation that comes from a higher level of education then the larger proportion of women than men! who seem to put in the sort of time commitment and motivation that an OU degree requires, ought to manifest some profound changes in the workplace.
I travelled up to Birmingham on the train and, as if to re-inforce the point, there was a large party of Scottish twenty-something men in my carriage. At 9am they were swilling Rab C Nesbitt's favourite tipple — Buckfast — straight from the bottle and washing it down with cans of Red Stripe. Like most people I guess I have a fairly hypocritical attitude to public drinking if it's not me that's doing it — if I'm sober and I smell beer on someone's breath on the tube I think 'alky' — even though I must often be that beery-breathed person myself. Â So I was pretty appalled by this bunch even though they were (at that time in the morning) fairly good natured. Presumably they were on some weekend bender of which I was glad to have only to witnessed the beginning.
Nevertheless, while extreme, this seemed to sum up the contrast between feckless under-40 males and their more diligent and industrious female counterparts. At the risk of making sweeping gender stereotyping generalisations, the fact that, on average, men manage to hold their own in the workplace against better qualified women seems to me to be another instance of the 'bias towards bullshit' in British corporate culture.
This prejudice leaped out of one of Lord Sugar's comments in the latest Apprentice — where he reasoned that Azhar ought to be fired partly because his sensible points and good ideas were ignored by other the more loud-mouthed and egotistical contestants — and that telling idiots who are too self-absorbed to listen that they are wrong is somehow 'too negative'.
This is a theme, possibly unintentionally, of my novel — with two contrasting but highly educated and highly motivated female characters. Both Kim and Emma have Master's degrees and are ascending to the top of their professions (albeit in ways that might not seem obvious at the time). James also has an MBA but he's disaffected and marginalised by working life and the novel starts with him wanting to get out but drifting rather than than being driven to achieve his ambitions.
The MSc in Software Development is something of a clue that my 'day job' is something to do with IT, which is thought of as a fairly male-dominated industry. However, I tend to have always worked quite closely with women. My first job was as a graduate trainee at British Airways and I had a female on-the-job tutor and I've worked very closely with many women — for a long time in my last job I was the only male in a team of three who travelled abroad a lot together (mainly to Germany — hence the background to the novel) and I ended up for a time sitting next to the two PAs who worked for a FTSE 100 company's UK IT director — which provided quite a few fascinating insights. (No surprise there's also a PA in the novel.)
I've consequently found it odd to be working recently (the third reason for under-nourishing the blog is having to spend lots of time commuting for this job) in a team of people who are 100% male — the office environment and projects I mostly work on are fortunately quite mixed but the team meetings have been quite strange affairs. Today there was a discussion in blokily knowledgeable detail about how the missiles planned to be stationed in London for the Olympics would be used to shoot down any errant airliners. It's as if it's unsaid but everyone realises there's something indefinable that's missing –I'm sure there's a similar sort of dynamic in all-women teams too in professions where women are dominant (apparently publishing is meant to be one).
Ironically, if someone said 'what we need on this team is a few women' then it would get exactly the sort of ribald, guffawing, nudge-nudge response that would prove the point. And I suppose a lot of the novel is about this subject too — the interactions between working men and women provide much of the novel's momentum.
[NB. Post has been cleaned up after up the mess of trying to edit a blog on an iPad using Safari on a 3G connection on a train.]
Tasty British Exports?
I knew Gordon Ramsay had branched into US TV stardom with Hell's Kitchen but I didn't expect him to turn up on the second hour of US TV cookery primetime as main presenter of the American version of Masterchef –– all on Fox TV.
It was the semi-final last night and the contestants were sweating over their lemon meringue pies — I wonder whether it's actually possible to send up this TV genre.
Somewhat serendipitously Masterchef  had imported its floppy-haired, bearded, Johnny Depp-spectacled French judge — someone who I'd watched this time last year and blogged about when the programme was on when we were staying in Brittany. In its hyped-up introduction, the US show claimed that Masterchef is a TV phenomenon all over the world — India and Israel were mentioned.
What did seem telling was the contestants seemed much more openly competitive than those in the UK original, who almost seem embarrassed to get through. In the US version, they slag each other off like Apprentice contestants (who only seem to do that when goaded for pre-publicity — in the tasks the British Apprentice contestants are remarkably nice to each other).
Or perhaps Americans are just more honest — a big difference perhaps between British and US writing? I always think American writing is more direct — much more emphasis on active and imaginative verbs (as Stephen King would recommend) whereas British writing is typically more discursive. This doesn't mean good British-style writing is bad — just different — compare the styles of Time and The Economist.
Ironically, given last week's events, the British versions of these programmes seem to show a country more at ease with itself than the US — which has been brought almost to bankruptcy by the brinksmanship of its politicians, whereas in Britain they entered a coalition.
And on the other channel in the room next door were Piers Morgan and Sharon Osborne on America's Got Talent. On second thoughts perhaps not all British exports are that tasty.
Plotting Spooks
When it comes to pacy plotting, Spooks on BBC1 is pretty good. It's also quite a model of editing what are, in essence, pretty bland scenes together. 'The Grid' is basically a dark room with a few tables and computers and that's where at least 30% of the action happens. The exterior action is mainly shots of people walking down streets intercut with other shots of people sitting in cars or also walking down streets. Then there are very ordinary looking safe houses on Peckham council estates and disused warehouses where all the villains threaten to remove bodily parts from the heroes. No wonder they like to stick in a spectacular explosion every so often. When you realise the action is largely banal and repetitive it shows that the dialogue is very clever in transforming the mundane into a cliffhanger — and quite a bit of it can be classed as 'telling' — 'he's got a dirty bomb in that suitcase that will kill half of London' suddenly gives a whole new meaning to another shot of a bloke walking along a street with a bag. It's very clever and makes good use of the characters being hard-bitten secret agents to ensure they never let the dialogue-driven pace flag with sentimental asides.
Another good example of well-structured 'plots' are in the more classy reality series like 'The Apprentice' and 'The Restaurant'. These are edited into little dramas with a very clear narrative arc — the obstacle or challenge is defined, the contestants try to overcome the obstacle, they succeed or fail and then have a short review of how they performed with the help of Raymond or Siralan to ensure they take away some self-knowledge. The climax is the firing but there's a short period of resolution and reflection afterwards. You can almost set your watch by the plot points on 'The Apprentice' — about 7 minutes for the task to be set, 12 minutes or so when they've decided how they're going to organise themselves, 20 minutes when they first start blundering into disaster, 30 minutes when the outcome of the task is teetering between success and failure, on about 37 minutes they've finished and prepare for the boardroom, at 52 minutes someone's getting a roasting, 56 minutes when someone gets fired, then there's the taxi ride.
Last Stand-Up Before Tier 3
I'm A Funny Fecker
Gluten Tolerant — A Collection of My Liars' League Short Stories
Edinburgh Round Up — Just These Please, Maisie Adam, Olga Koch, Joanne McNally
Edinburgh Fringe — Comedy with a Sour Aftertaste
Michael Clarke on Post on the Liars' League Site on Cassandra Darke by Posy Simmonds
David Wilkinson on Post on the Liars' League Site on Cassandra Darke by Posy Simmonds
Moira Garland on Gluten Tolerance at Liars' League London"
My Brilliant Stand-Up Career | MacNovel on Jeremy Discusses GDP, Yoga, the Greek Referendum and Escalators
My Brilliant Stand-Up Career | MacNovel on Selfie Stick
Certificate in Novel Writing course
Creative Writing Classes
liars league
Love Art London
MA in Creative Writing
Metroland Poets
Tate Gallery
Burying Bad News (11)
Creative Writing Courses (6)
Fictional Genres (2)
Fictional Techniques (4)
Frustrations (9)
General Life (32)
Influences (68)
Plot (12)
Published Work (8)
Synopses (2)
The Angel (15)
Writing Process (71)
Search MacNovel
The Rules of Creative Writing — My Essay for the MMU MA in Creative Writing
This Is Not Graffiti


text:
Steven Spielberg Seeks Latin Actors for 'West Side Story' Remake
Nick Mojica
Movieclips via YouTube
West Side Story is a classic film but if there's one problem with the movie, it's that three of its main Puerto Rican characters were played by white actors.
Now, Steven Spielberg is looking to fix that problem with his upcoming remake. A casting call for the roles of Tony, Maria, Anita and Bernardo has gone out and they're looking for Latino actors.
In the original film, Maria and Bernardo were played by White actors, while the role of Anita was portrayed by Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno. The casting call for the upcoming film reads: "Tony is CAUSCASIAN Maria & Anita are LATINA Bernardo is LATINO." The casting call also says the actors must be able to sing—something actress Natalie Wood didn't do fully in the 1961 movie.
The original film—directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise—won 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. Moreno also won Best Supporting Actress, while George Chakiris took home the award for Best Supporting Actor.
Last year, Moreno revealed White actors in the 1961 film were put in brown face, and even her own skin was darkened for the role.
"I remember saying to the makeup man one day—because it was like putting mud on my face, it was really dark and I'm a fairly fair Hispanic—and I said to the makeup man one day 'My God! Why do we all have to be the same color?" she said during an appearance on the In the Thick podcast. "Puerto Ricans are French and Spanish...' And it's true, we are very many different colors, we're Taino indian, we are Black some of us."
Source: Steven Spielberg Seeks Latin Actors for 'West Side Story' Remake


This is a Kenny Croes Design. Item introduced in October of 2012.
ASSOCIATED PRODUCTS: See 2T sized arms, legs, bodies and hands.
The product was more than I expected! It was top quality and even came with the piece to set the eyes on! I will be back to buy more of the head to make more puppets for my collection soon!


Welcome to Cambridge Christian School While many schools claim to offer a college preparatory education, we feel it is important to provide students with a "life preparatory" experience.
For almost 50 years, Corbett Prep's highly trained teachers have guided students from PreK3 through 8th grade to discover and develop their academic, artistic, and athletic gifts and talents!
Primrose Schools is a national system of accredited private preschools that provides a premier early education and child care experience for children and families.


What kinds of expenses are not allowed to be purchased with E&G funds?
Contact your Business Center with questions about specific purchases.
The following expenses are generally not allowed to be purchased with E&G funds. If your department has access to Foundation funds, you may be able to use those indexes instead, with approval from your budget authority.


text:
FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2015 file photo, Costa Rican 1987 Nobel peace laureate and former president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, looks at the media during the opening ceremony of the XV World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates at the University in Barcelona, Spain. Arias has been accused of sexual assault by a nuclear disarmament activist, a charge he denies. She filed a criminal complaint on Monday, Feb. 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
Costa Rica ex-leader Oscar Arias accused of sexual assault
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Costa Rican former President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias was enveloped in scandal Tuesday after a sexual assault complaint was brought against him by a nuclear disarmament activist.
Arias denied the allegation, saying he has never acted against the will of any woman and has fought for gender equality during his career.
According to the publication Semanario Universidad, the woman said the incident took place Dec. 1, 2014, at the ex-president's home in the capital, San Jose, where she had come for a meeting related to her cause.
She told the publication that Arias grabbed her from behind, touched her breasts, began to kiss her and penetrated her with his fingers, while she reminded him that he was a married man.
"I do not remember well what he replied to me, but he continued to touch me, he inserted his fingers into my vagina and touched me everywhere and kissed me," the woman was quoted as saying. "Then he told me to wait a bit and he left the office. I didn't know what to do. I felt trapped in that moment."
Semanario Universidad posted a partial image of the criminal complaint filed Monday afternoon that names the suspected crime as rape.
Responding to an Associated Press request for comment, the prosecutor's office acknowledged receiving "a complaint against a person with the last name Arias for a presumed sexual crime," but said it was prevented by law from releasing more information.
According to Semanario Universidad, the woman — who was then 30 — said Arias proposed meeting elsewhere, and she used that as an excuse to leave, later telling him she had gone to a meeting with an adviser to a then-lawmaker. She asked them to let her go to the National Assembly building for fear the word would get back to Arias if she did not.
The lawmaker and the adviser confirmed to Semanario Universidad that the activist had told them about the alleged incident and was visibly upset.
"I have never acted in disrespect of the will of any woman, much less in the case of their freedom to relate with another person," Arias said in a brief statement. "In my public life I have promoted gender equality since I consider it an indispensable means to achieve a more just and equitable society for all people."
The statement added that since there was a complaint against him, he would have no further public comment and would mount his defense in court.
Arias was president of Costa Rica from 1986 to 1990 and again in 2006-2010. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to end civil wars in nearby Central American nations.
Arias also faces a separate complaint involving purported favorable treatment for a mining project in 2008.
Nobel Prizes


text:
Baseball tries workout to build strength
Home /News/Baseball tries workout to build strength
The collegiate baseball season doesn't start for another six months but that is not stopping Head Coach Evan O'Meara from getting his players in top shape now.
| By Alumni Staff
The collegiate baseball season doesn't start for another six months but that is not stopping Head Coach Evan O'Meara from getting his players in top shape now. His method of workout consists of a program called Crossfit. It's a high intensity, highly dynamic, and fast paced strength and conditioning program.
"I know I'm kicking their butts, but they are really responding well to the strength and conditioning workouts," said O'Meara.
Crossfit workouts consist of total body movements such as pull-ups, push-ups and squats, and are then customized to fit a baseball teams specific regimen. The players perform different exercises, pumping out as many repetitions in only 10 seconds.
They then receive 10 seconds of rest and proceed to pump out more repetition of the same exercise for a total of three minutes. Then they would move on to the next exercise.
"The longest play in baseball last about 12 seconds, so to workout for an hour just lifting weights is not dynamic enough for baseball players," said O'Meara.
The Crossfit workout would allow players to fully engage in the activity, using mostly fast twitch muscle fibers, which is vital for baseball players during the workout.
"I'd rather do training like this because is keeps me moving," said Mike Flynn, who is returning for a second season at PCC.
The workouts are held in somewhat of a bootcamp setting. The coaches look over and supervise the players as each player is paired up during the workouts.
"Everyone has a partner. That way everyone is accountable and doesn't slack off," said O'Meara.
The workouts are so intense that O'Meara only conducts them four days a week. This gives players a three-day recovery period over the weekend.
"Being able to use different muscles, in different directions, all in the same exercise is tough work. That's what baseball is. You are moving your body in many different directions all the time," said O'Meara.
"The workouts start a bit early at 6:20 a.m. It's all for functional strength, which helps us out and hopefully these workouts transcend into good results for the season," said Michael Glazier, another player returning for a second season.
It seems that with a little sacrifice and a great work ethic, the 2010 Lancer baseball team might be making a more positive note this time around.
Alumni Staff
Latest posts by Alumni Staff (see all)
EDITORIAL: Apologize about the real problem - April 23, 2014
STATEMENT: District apologizes to Oscar winning alum - April 21, 2014
EDITORIAL: The Forgotten Students - March 26, 2014
A look back with … Professor Persaud
Volleyball remains perfect in South Coast Conference
PCC confirms return to campus,…
Man stuck in elevator and…
PCC temporarily postpones in person…
Attempted kidnapping reported outside R…
Students divided over public access…
'Faculty shouldn't have to worry'…
Faculty vs. students: Student government…
Hangry no more: Food service…
New law will delay policing…
Gallery: Lancer's 35-23 victory over…